Closing Night prizegiving and quiz – 7 December

The trophy winners for 2016 were:
Senior Club Standard Championship – John Sutherland
Intermediate Club Standard Championship – Naser Tamimi
Junior Club Standard Championship – Shoji Fukushima
Standard Perpetual Championship – Riley Jellyman
Senior Club Rapid Championship – Quentin Johnson
Intermediate Club Rapid Championship – Naser Tamimi
Junior Club Rapid Championship – Brent Southgate
Rapid Perpetual Championship – Shoji Fukushima
JJ Marlow Trophy for under 20 Championship – Leighton Nicholls
Cleland Trophy – Quentin Johnson
Richard Sutton Trophy – Quentin Johnson & Leighton Nicholls
The quiz was won by the Arctic Circle, ahead of the Chess Gypsies then the Magnetoes and the Chasers.

Summer Rapid Open – 3 December

The Summer Rapid Open saw 14 players compete with Ross Black unable to make it this time from Christchurch, the only non-local was Stefan Markx from Queenstown. All games went to seeding in the first round, but in round 2 Riley Jellyman defeated top seed Quentin Johnson in a well-played game where his lasting pressure in in a rook and opposite coloured bishop ending drew the necessary mistakes from his opponent. Shoji Fukushima aslo upset his opponent Vee-Liem Saw. In round three, Jellyman took the sole lead by a point by defeating Naser Tamimi, while Johnson inflicted a loss on Edward Sarfas after the latter spoiled a good position with a tactical oversight leading to mate. In round four Jellyman continued on his winning way with victory over Wolfie Martin. Johnson and Sarfas were the the only players to stay in touch, with wins over Clarkson and Tamimi respectively. At the other end of the table the battle between Ahmad Atieh and Romero Suggate was closely fought, with Atieh coming out the victor to register his first point. In the final round Jellyman made no mistake against Sarfas, eventually converting a pawn ending with the outside passed pawn to take first outright with a convincing and well-deserved 5/5. Johnson won his usual crazy battle with Hamish Gold to come second alone on 4 points. Third was shared by Sarfas, Tamimi, Martin and Taine Box on 3 points, with Box taking out first prize in the U1400 grade. Second in the grade was shared by Stefan MArkx, Bob Clarkson, Shoji Fukushima and Hildon Nisa, all on 2 points.

Cross Table
 
No Name                 Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5
 
1  Jellyman, Riley      1662 5      9:W  2:W  4:W  5:W  3:W
2  Johnson, Quentin J F 2063 4     11:W  1:L  3:W 10:W  7:W
3  Sarfas, Edward       1622 3     14:W  5:W  2:L  4:W  1:L
4  Tamimi, Naser        1660 3     12:W  7:W  1:L  3:L  8:W
5  Martin, Wolfie       1700 3      6:W  3:L 11:W  1:L  9:W
6  Box, Taine           1255 3      5:L 14:W  8:L 12:W 10:W
7  Gold, Hamish R       1725 2.5   10:W  4:L  9:W  8:D  2:L
8  Saw, Vee-Liem        1537 2.5   13:W 11:L  6:W  7:D  4:L
9  Markx, Stefan        1250 2      1:L 13:W  7:L 11:W  5:L
10 Clarkson, Robert D   1343 2      7:L 12:W 13:W  2:L  6:L
11 Fukushima, Shoji     1376 2      2:L  8:W  5:L  9:L 14:W
12 Nisa, Hildon         1194 2      4:L 10:L 14:W  6:L 13:W
13 Atieh, Ahmad         900  1      8:L  9:L 10:L 14:W 12:L
14 Suggate, Romero      940  0      3:L  6:L 12:L 13:L 11:L
 

Perpetual Handicap – 30 November

Shoji Fukushima lead the Rapid throughout the year and held off a late surge by Leighton Nicholls to win the Rapid Perpetual Trophy on +92 ahead of Leighton 2nd on +87 and Brent Southgate 3rd on +67. The Standard was a close tussle all year between Riley Jellyman and Naser Tamimi, who were tied for the lead a few weeks from the end. An upset loss to Hamish Gold eventually sank Naser's chances and Riley won the Standard Perpetual Trophy on +99 ahead of Naser 2nd on +71 and Leighton Nicholls 3rd on +58. Leighton's appearance on both podiums is a testament to his steep improvement in the last year, establishing a NZCF standard rating over 2000 and reaching the top fifty in the NZCF Rapid list.

Otago Chess Club Perpetual Handicap 2016
	As at:	1/12/2016
	Standard		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12				Rapid		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Rank	Name	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Gain		Rank	Name	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Gain
1	Sutherland, John L	580	580	578	594	594	610	610	617	628	628	628		48		1	Johnson, Quentin J F	540	540	536	536	544	544	534	556	556	557	557		17
2	Johnson, Quentin J F	575	575	560	547	547	558	562	557	550	555	552		-23		2	Lamont, Iain	529	532	545	545	561	561	561	561	565	544	544		15
3	Lamont, Iain	550	550	567	547	547	547	547	544	548	548	548		-2		3	Sutherland, John L	546	545	547	547	547	547	537	523	523	523	523		-23
4	Nicholls, Leighton	451	451	465	483	483	479	485	494	498	501	509		58		4	Nicholls, Leighton	391	399	385	385	396	396	430	440	434	478	478		87
5	Aimers, Geoffrey	386	386	381	382	382	378	376	393	383	387	382		-4		5	Tamimi, Naser	336	341	350	350	370	370	363	363	375	383	383		47
6	Tamimi, Naser	289	289	292	306	306	340	336	362	370	373	360		71		6	Aimers, Geoffrey	352	375	377	377	377	377	377	377	377	377	377		25
7	Duffield, Terence	334	334	337	353	353	356	356	349	336	321	337		3		7	Gold, Hamish R	371	371	372	372	372	372	370	364	356	346	346		-25
8	Jellyman, Riley	223	223	244	266	266	272	272	296	307	312	322		99		8	Jellyman, Riley	301	310	331	331	299	299	327	327	337	331	331		30
9	Sarfas, Edward	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	252	269	273	306		56		9	Sarfas, Edward	250	250	250	250	265	265	288	292	299	313	313		63
10	Gold, Hamish R	289	289	300	265	265	265	265	275	267	274	286		-3		10	McKee, Joe	280	280	280	280	290	290	290	290	290	290	290		10
11	Southgate, Brent	324	324	320	327	327	336	343	309	319	319	283		-41		11	Saw, Vee-Liem	211	222	230	230	248	248	248	248	248	248	248		37
12	Clarkson, Robert D	227	227	227	227	227	233	240	255	274	273	267		40		12	Lau, Sean	200	197	200	200	231	231	236	236	233	237	237		37
14	Saw, Vee-Liem	239	239	236	245	245	264	264	264	264	264	255		16		14	Duffield, Terence	255	246	235	235	258	258	234	234	232	234	234		-21
15	Lau, Sean	220	220	211	224	224	219	229	242	243	243	254		34		15	Fukushima, Shoji	140	144	151	151	184	184	200	200	206	232	232		92
16	McKee, Joe	250	250	250	250	250	264	264	242	242	242	242		-8		16	Box, Taine	251	255	252	252	244	244	249	249	247	216	216		-35
17	Fukushima, Shoji	200	200	212	227	227	237	232	233	224	224	234		34		17	Southgate, Brent	138	130	133	126	154	154	180	180	186	205	205		67
18	Armstrong, John F	154	154	175	180	180	169	160	166	175	192	205		51		18	Clarkson, Robert D	141	131	141	141	155	155	179	177	177	177	177		36
19	Nisa, Hildon	200	200	189	186	186	187	179	183	168	163	188		-12		19	Reid, David M	174	165	165	165	165	165	165	165	165	165	165		-9
20	Box, Taine	150	150	150	159	159	148	159	176	176	172	187		37		20	Lau, Ethan	150	169	181	190	163	163	161	161	161	163	163		13
21	Reid, David M	197	197	185	188	188	178	189	211	203	201	168		-29		21	Nisa, Hildon	150	150	150	150	136	136	171	171	180	160	160		10
22	Lau, Ryan	125	125	139	145	145	139	130	111	135	135	135		10		22	Lough, Max	171	173	178	178	167	167	156	156	156	156	156		-15
23	Hopkins, Dale	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125		0		23	Lau, Ryan	170	177	165	165	143	143	129	129	133	151	151		-19
24	Brook, Martin	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	99	117		17		24	Armstrong, John F	105	98	101	101	141	141	125	131	126	142	142		37
25	Lau, Ethan	125	125	127	108	108	121	116	103	107	107	106		-19		25	Cowie, Jack	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100		0
26	Lough, Max	102	102	87	91	91	84	84	94	94	94	103		1		26	Brook, Martin	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100		0
27	Fu, Zishen	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100		0		27	Hopkins, Dale	125	125	125	125	107	107	95	95	95	95	95		-30
28	Curran, Riley	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100		0		28	Curran, Riley	100	100	100	100	93	93	93	93	93	93	93		-7
29	Medlicott, Andrew	100	100	96	96	96	96	96	96	96	96	96		-4		29	Fu, Zishen	100	100	100	100	82	82	82	82	82	82	82		-18
30	Cowie, Jack	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	94	76	74	80		-20		30	Medlicott, Andrew	90	90	73	73	73	73	73	73	73	73	73		-17

Standard Perpetual

Rapid Perpetual

Richard Sutton Trophy – 30 November

Defending Champion and top seed Quentin Johnson looked to have the tournament won after winning the key match-up with second seed Leighton Nicholls in round four to go a point clear on 4/4. But Riley Jellyman, afetr an early setback against John Armstrong won his other games to be up against Johnson in round five and the game ended in a draw after both sides missed some chances for more in an even struggle. Meanwhile Nicholls satyed in the hunt defeating Edward Sarfas in a tactical battle after the latter missed a fleeting chance to trap Nicholl's queen. Armstrong continued his good tournament by defeating Shoji Fukushima. In the final round Johnson blundered a pawn against Geoff Aimers, and though he was able to regain it it left him with weak queenside pawns. Aimers was on the verge of victory, but allowed Johnson to reach a drawn bishop and wrong rook pawn ending to salvage the draw. Johnson was joined in first place on 5/6 by Nicholls, after Jellyman went astray in the opening, losing first a pawn then an exchange. Sarfas beat Hamish Gold to finish third a point behind, while Jellyamn, Aimers and Taine Box were next on 3½. New member Martin Brook (11) scored a very creditable 2/6 in his first tournament registering a 1500 rating performance. Jellyman, Armstrong and Naser Tamimi should all earn FIDE ratings in the January list, while Sarfas scored a 4-game block towards his first FIDE rating.

 Cross Table at round 6 sorted by score
 
Pos NAME                 Rtg   T  Fed  Pts |   1     2     3     4     5     6    |  Buc1    BucT
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1 Johnson, Quentin J F 2148     NZL  5.0 | +W9   +BYE  +B3   +W2   =B4   =W5    |   19.0    22.0
  2 Nicholls, Leighton   2088     NZL  5.0 | +B13  +W10  +W7   -B1   +W3   +B4    |   18.0    20.0
  3 Sarfas, Edward       1701     NZL  4.0 | +B20  +W5   -W1   +B7   -B2   +W8    |   19.5    22.0
  4 Jellyman, Riley      1799     NZL  3.5 | +W6   -B7   +W12  +B11  =W1   -W2    |   19.0    21.5
  5 Aimers, Geoffrey     1893     NZL  3.5 | +W17  -B3   =B8   +W13  =W11  =B1    |   17.0    18.0
  6 Box, Taine           1554     NZL  3.5 | -B4   =W20  +B16  =BYE  =BYE  +W7    |   12.0    12.0
  7 Armstrong, John F    1576     NZL  3.0 | +W11  +W4   -B2   -W3   +B9   -B6    |   19.0    22.0
  8 Gold, Hamish R       1757     NZL  3.0 | +B12  -BYE  =W5   +B10  =BYE  -B3    |   17.0    17.0
  9 Fukushima, Shoji     1700     NZL  3.0 | -B1   -W12  +B15  +W14  -W7   +B17   |   14.0    15.0
 10 Tamimi, Naser        1757     NZL  3.0 | +W14  -B2   =BYE  -W8   =BYE  +B12   |   13.0    13.0
 11 Duffield, Terence(W) 1824     NZL  2.5 | -B7   +W15  +B13  -W4   =B5    --    |   15.5    17.5
 12 Nisa, Hildon         1546     NZL  2.5 | -W8   +B9   -B4   =W15  +B19  -W10   |   15.5    17.5
 13 Clarkson, Robert D   1644     NZL  2.0 | -W2   +B14  -W11  -B5   -W17  +B15   |   15.5    16.5
 14 Brook, Martin           0     NZL  2.0 | -B10  -W13  +W17  -B9   -B15  +W19   |   12.5    13.5
 15 Southgate, Brent     1801     NZL  2.0 | =BYE  -B11  -W9   =B12  +W14  -W13   |   12.5    12.5
 16 Lough, Max       (W) 1410     NZL  2.0 |  --   +B17  -W6   =BYE  =BYE   --    |   11.0    11.0
 17 Reid, David M        1609     NZL  1.0 | -B5   -W16  -B14  -W19  +B13  -W9    |   14.0    16.0
 18 Lau, Sean            1556     NZL  1.0 |  --    --    --    --    --   +W21   |   13.5    15.0
 19 Lau, Ethan           1326     NZL  1.0 |  --    --    --   +B17  -W12  -B14   |   13.5    14.5
 20 Cowie, Jack      (W)    0     NZL  0.5 | -W3   =B6    --    --    --    --    |   15.0    16.5
 21 Saw, Vee-Liem        1639     NZL  0.0 |  --    --    --    --    --   -B18   |   14.5    16.0
 
Generated by Vega - www.vegachess.com
(copy licensed to: New Zealand Chess Federation)

Club Rapid Championship 2nd leg – 19 October

The second leg was marred by the unexpected non-appearance of club champion and Treasurer John Sutherland on the opening night, followed by news of his death a couple of weeks later as result of a stroke. John was a well-liked member of the club and will be sadly missed.
The new rules applied this year meant that competition between grades was fierce to the end. Defending Champion and top seed Quentin Johnson again scored 4½/6 in the A Grade, benefitting from a final round default against Iain Lamont. Leighton Nicholls also repeated his score of 4 points from the first leg to take clear second, ahead of Lamont on 2½ and Riley Jellyman on 1, though this still gained him some rating points. In The B Grade Naser Tamimi dominated with 4½/6 ahead of Edward Sarfas on 3½, Hamish Gold 2½ and Sean Lau 1½. The C Grade was won by Shoji Fukushima on 4/6, continuing his fine run of rapid results this year. Brent Southgate was second on 3½ points folowed by Terry Duffield 3 and Taine Box on 1½. Ryan Lau emerged the victor of the tightly contested D grade on 3½/6, just ahead of John Armstrong and Ethan Lau tied for second on 3 points, while Hildon Nisa finished on 2½.
After base points are added to these scores along with the first leg scores, the Senior championship trophy went to Quentin Johnson on an Aggregate of 20½, 1 point ahead of Leighton Nicholls. The Intermediate championship trophy went to Naser Tamimi on 15 points, a point clear of Riley Jellyman and Edward Sarfas. The Junior Championship Trophy went to Brent Southgate on 10½, half a point ahead of Sean Lau. The calculation of the base scores this year perhaps slightly underweighted the value of a promotion to a higher grade, and a proposal to round these up to the nearest half point (instead of up or down) has been put to the committee for next year's championships.

Cross Table
 
No Name                 Grade Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6   7   8
 
1  Johnson, Quentin J F A     2056 9.5    0:-  0:-  6:W  6:W  2:W  2:L 3:D 3:+
2  Nicholls, Leighton   A     1859 9      6:W  6:L  3:W  3:W  1:L  1:W 0:  0:
3  Lamont, Iain         A     1952 7.5   17:W 17:W  2:L  2:L  6:W  6:W 1:D 1:-
4  Tamimi, Naser        B     1613 7.5    7:D  7:W  5:W  5:L 10:W 10:W 0:  0:
5  Sarfas, Edward       B     1596 6.5   10:W 10:D  4:L  4:W  7:W  7:L 0:  0:
6  Jellyman, Riley      A     1628 6      2:L  2:W  1:L  1:L  3:L  3:L 0:  0:
7  Gold, Hamish R       B     1785 5.5    4:D  4:L 10:L 10:W  5:L  5:W 0:  0:
8  Fukushima, Shoji     C     1405 5.5   13:L 13:W 11:W 11:W  9:L  9:W 0:  0:
9  Southgate, Brent     C     1299 5     11:L 11:W 13:W 13:D  8:W  8:L 0:  0:
10 Lau, Sean            B     1325 4.5    5:L  5:D  7:W  7:L  4:L  4:L 0:  0:
11 Duffield, Terence    C     1485 4.5    9:W  9:L  8:L  8:L 13:W 13:W 0:  0:
12 Lau, Ryan            D     1129 3.5   15:W 15:L 16:L 16:W 14:W 14:D 0:  0:
13 Box, Taine           C     1234 3      8:W  8:L  9:L  9:D 11:L 11:L 0:  0:
14 Armstrong, John F    D     1212 3     16:L 16:D 15:W 15:W 12:L 12:D 0:  0:
15 Lau, Ethan           D     1098 3     12:L 12:W 14:L 14:L 16:W 16:W 0:  0:
16 Nisa, Hildon         D     1190 2.5   14:W 14:D 12:W 12:L 15:L 15:L 0:  0:
17 Clarkson, Robert D   E     1351 0      3:L  3:L  0:-  0:-  0:-  0:- 0:  0:
 

Transfer tournament – 19 October

While some catchup games for the Rapid Championship were being completed, two round-robin transfer tournaments took place at the other end of the playing room. Taking part along with the club regulars were two guests from out of town: Alan Aldridge from Wellington and David Weegenaar from Christchurch. The final scores in the first tournament were: 1 Naser & Ryan 4/4; 2 Alan & John 3; 3 Edward & Max 2; 4 Taine & Ethan 1; 5 Shoji & Hildon 0. The final scores in the second tournament were: 1-2 Alan & Max and Naser & Ethan 4/5; 3-4 David & John and Ryan & Taine 3; 5 Sean & Shoji 1; 6 Edward & Hildon 0.

Club Championship – 21 September, updated 5 October

After the second leg of the 2016 Club Championship, John Sutherland won the A grade even more convincingly on 4½/5 a point and a half a point Leighton Nicholls and Iain Lamont, to win the senior championship trophy for 2016. Quentin Johnson finished on 2½ and Riley Jellyman on 2 after the latter gave away a piece from a winning position in the final game, while Terry Duffield couldn't repeat his rating gains from the 1st leg and finished on 0.
With the promotion of Riley to the A grade, the B grade was dominated Naser Tamimi. Naser finished on 4½/5, a point clear of Geoff Aimers. This 2100+ performance won Naser the Intermediate championship trophy by half a point over Riley, whose 2000 performance in the A grade wasn't enough to hold his lead from the first leg. Newcomer Edward Sarfas scored a solid 2½ followed by Hamish Gold on 2, Brent Southgate on 1½ and Shoji Fukushima on 1 point after promotion from the C Grade. This was enough for Shoji to win the Junior championship trophy for 2016.
The C grade was again a six-round Swiss. Top seed Bob Clarkson started with a loss to Taine Box, but a string of five wins followed to finish at the top of the table. Sean Lau finished next on 4 points, losing only to Bob and taking a couple of half-point byes. Taine finished third equal with David Reid and Ryan Lau on 3½.
The new rules this year mean that each grade starts with a base score and/or a scaling factor, to allow performances to be roughly compared between grades, based on the average rating of the field in each grade. That allows players in different grades to compete for the same trophy on roughly even terms. The final Championship totals show the effect of these adjustments:

1 Sutherland 15 (Senior Champion); 2 Nicholls 13; 3 Lamont 12½ 4-6 TBC; 7 Aimers 9½; 8 Duffield 8; 9-10 Southgate & Sarfas 7½; 11-14 Gold, Fukushima (Junior Champion), Reid & Sean Lau 6½; 15-16 Armstrong & Ryan Lau 6; 17 Box 5½; 18-20 Clarkson, Nisa & Ethan Lau 4; 21 Lough 2½; 22 McKee 1; 23 Cowie 0.

A Grade

No	Name	Loc	Total	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5	#6
1	Sutherland, John L	2212	4.5	*	½	1	1	1	1
2	Lamont, Iain	2138	3	½	*	1	½	0	1
3	Nicholls, Leighton	2088	3	0	0	*	1	1	1
4	Johnson, Quentin J F	2148	2.5	0	½	0	*	1	1
5	Jellyman, Riley	1799	2	0	1	0	0	*	1
6	Duffield, Terence	1824	0	0	0	0	0	0	*

B Grade

No	Name	Loc	Total	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5	#6
1	Tamimi, Naser	1757	4.5	*	1	½	1	1	1
2	Aimers, Geoffrey	1893	3.5	0	*	1	1	1	½
3	Sarfas, Edward	1701	2.5	½	0	*	0	1	1
4	Gold, Hamish R	1757	2	0	0	1	*	0	1
5	Southgate, Brent	1801	1.5	0	0	0	1	*	½
6	Fukushima, Shoji	1700	1	0	½	0	0	½	*

C Grade

Cross Table
 
No Name                 Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6
 
1  Clarkson, Robert D   1644 5      3:0 10:1  7:1  4:1  2:1  8:1
2  Lau, Sean            1556 4      9:1  0:½  6:1  0:½  1:0  4:1
3  Box, Taine           1554 3.5    1:1  6:1  4:0  0:½  8:1  5:0
4  Reid, David M        1609 3.5    8:1  7:1  3:1  1:0  0:½  2:0
5  Lau, Ryan            1497 3.5    6:0  9:0  0:1  0:½ 14:1  3:1
6  Armstrong, John F    1576 3      5:1  3:0  2:0  8:1  7:1  0:0
7  Lau, Ethan           1326 2.5   11:0  4:0  1:0  0:½  6:0 14:1
8  Nisa, Hildon         1546 2      4:0 14:1 10:1  6:0  3:0  1:0
9  Lough, Max           1410 2      2:0  5:1  0:½  0:½  0:0  0:0
10 McKee, Joe           1638 1      0:½  1:0  8:0  0:½  0:0  0:0
11 Jellyman, Riley      1799 1      7:1  0:0  0:0  0:0  0:0  0:0
12 Johnson, Quentin J F 2148 1      0:   0:   0:  13:1  0:0  0:0
13 Sarfas, Edward       1701 0      0:   0:   0:  12:0  0:0  0:0
14 Cowie, Jack               0      0:-  8:0  0:0  0:0  5:0  7:0
 

Ultimate Challenge – 21 September

Instead of the scheduled Transfer tournament, a different form of team chess was tried out – the Ultimate Challenge format copied from the after event at the Sinquefield Cup Super GM tournament. Two teams played 5m + 3s Bronstein blitz in rotation – 5 moves for each player before the next member of their team took over the game, with players paired to be roughly even strength. The team order was reversed after each game. The team of Quentin, Sean, Shoji, Hildon, Ethan & Jack won the five game match 3½ - 1½ against the team Elliot, Edward, Brent, Bob, Max & Ryan, though the games were very close and often hanged on a thread.

Spring Rapid Open – 3 September

The Spring Rapid Open saw 15 players compete, only Ross Black from Christchurch making the journey from outside Dunedin. Ross was the casualty of the major upset in the first round to Ryan Lau, while second seed Hamish Gold was held to a draw by Max Lough. In round two both these players continued in kind - Ryan defeating Wolfie Martin, and Max drawing with Ross. Ethan Lau beat his older brother Sean, and top seed Quentin Johnson only just managed to win on time against Naser Tamimi in a technically drawn position. The third round saw Quentin held to a draw by Riley Jellyman, these two being joined in the lead by Hamish, who ended Ryan's destructive run, but from a piece down. Ross conceded his third draw, this time to Hildon Nisa. The match on board one between Hamish and Riley was a fascinating struggle of unequal material: Hamish won Riley's queen for rook, knight and pawn. Riley then won an exchange to be up on material, but then Hamish turned his unopposed queen to account to win with a sacrificial kingside attack. Quentin kept pace with Hamish by beating Ryan, who by his own admission moved too fast and was soon lost. Staying in contention half a point behind were Edward Sarfas, who beat Wolfie and Naser, who beat Bob Clarkson. In the under 1500 grade Ryan, Sean, Ethan and Max shared the lead on 2 points going into the final round. The battle between the leaders in the final round was a typically messy King's Gambit ended in a victory for Quentin over Hamish, taking first on 4½/5. Riley defeated Wolfie to join Hamish among the prizewinners on 3½ and then awaited the result beween Naser and Edward, the final game to finish. In a hair-rasing game in which the position fluctuated between wins for either side, Naser eventually won on time in a wild scramble by one second! - taking second on 4 points. The contest to reach 3 points to win under 1500 grade was won by Sean, who defeated Ryan, and Max, who beat Bob, while Ethan was beaten by Ross.

Cross Table
 
No Name                 Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5
 
1  Johnson, Quentin J F 2056 4.5   14:W  2:W  4:D  9:W  3:W
2  Tamimi, Naser        1613 4     12:W  1:L 15:W 14:W  5:W
3  Gold, Hamish R       1785 3.5    6:D  5:W  9:W  4:W  1:L
4  Jellyman, Riley      1628 3.5   11:W 13:W  1:D  3:L 10:W
5  Sarfas, Edward       1596 3     15:W  3:L 13:W 10:W  2:L
6  Lough, Max           1331 3      3:D  8:D 10:L 11:W 14:W
7  Lau, Sean            1325 3     10:L 12:L  0:W 13:W  9:W
8  Black, Ross          1622 3      9:L  6:D 11:D 15:W 12:W
9  Lau, Ryan            1129 2      8:W 10:W  3:L  1:L  7:L
10 Martin, Wolfie       1700 2      7:W  9:L  6:W  5:L  4:L
11 Nisa, Hildon         1190 2      4:L 14:D  8:D  6:L  0:W
12 Lau, Ethan           1098 2      2:L  7:W 14:L  0:W  8:L
13 Atieh, Ahmad              2      0:W  4:L  5:L  7:L 15:W
14 Clarkson, Robert D   1351 1.5    1:L 11:D 12:W  2:L  6:L
15 Lau, Jared                1      5:L  0:W  2:L  8:L 13:L
 

Otago/Southland Junior Championship – 20 August

A compact but very strong field of 15 players turned out at the Otago Chess Club to contest the 2016 championship. Only three players were not members of the Otago Chess club or Dunedin Junior Chess Academy. Only Kyle Manangkil (Lime Hills) came from outside Dunedin. Defending joint champions from last year Leighton Nicholls and Riley Jellyman started as favourites, along with OBHS board 1, Naser Tamimi. However, seven rounds with the Rapid time limit of 25 minutes for the game meant there was plenty of drama to come. Nicholls drew in the first round to Max Lough (OBHS) who stoutly defended a pawn endgame a pawn down, while other games went to seeding. Jellyman (OBHS) defeated his OBHS1 team mate Naser Tamimi in round two on time in a blitz finish in what looked like a key result. He was joined on 2/2 by Taine Box (OBHS), Sean Lau (OBHS) and Joe McKee (OBHS). In round 3 Jellyman beat Box and McKee beat Sean Lau to move to 3/3, while Tamimi came back from a piece down to beat Nicholls, seemingly ending the top seed's title chances. In round 4 the battle between the two leaders went decisively to Jellyman, establishing a point lead over McKee, Tamimi and Sean Lau. Jellyman retained his lead in round five, beating Sean Lau to move to 5/5. McKee beat Tamimi after the latter blundered a piece from a winning position to stay a point behind, while Nicholls and Lough lurked a further half point back. In round 6, Jellyman showed signs of having banked the point against Lough, who played very well to exploit his opponents errors and won to open up the tournament heading into the final round. Nichols beat McKee to join Lough on 4½/6 , just half a point behind Jellyman, while Tamimi and Sean Lau joined McKee on 4 points with wins over Ethan Lau (OBHS) and Loek van Broekhoven (Kaikorai) respectively. In a key game in the under 13 section, Romer Suggate (Tahuna) beat Manangkil to take apoint lead on 3/6 over Manangkil and Liam Gonen (Home). Fittingly it was the joint defending champions who faced off in the final round, and the half point difference meant they couldn't share the title again this year. Playing for the draw, sufficient to win the title, Jellyman traded into a rook ending a pawn up against Nicholls, but the latter's king and pawns were much better placed. Nicholls won back the pawn and the defensive task proved too much in the time allowed for Jellyman in the final game to finish. Thus Nicholls overtook Jellyamn to win the tournament outright, as the only other player in range, Lough, was beaten by Tamimi. Sean Lau beat Suggate and McKee beat Ryan Lau (OBHS) to join Jellyman and Tamimi in second place, while Liam Gonen overcame Ethan Lau to catch Suggate in the under 13 section.
First and winner of the JJ Marlow Trophy for the fifth time was Leighton Nicholls on 5½/7. Second equal in the under 20 were Naser Tamimi and Sean Lau on 5 (players eligible for more than one prize were allocated only the highest value prize). First equal U16 were Riley Jellyman and Joe McKee, also on 5 points. First equal U13 were Liam Gonen and Romero Suggate on 3 points. The winning team was OBHS1 (Riley Jellyman, Naser Tamimi & Seal Lau).

Cross Table
 
No Name                 Feder Rtg Loc  Club  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6    7
 
1  Nicholls, Leighton   OT    18  1859       5.5    6:D  8:W  3:L 11:W 10:W  4:W  2:W
2  Jellyman, Riley      OBHS  15  1628 OBHS1 5     15:W  3:W  7:W  4:W  5:W  6:L  1:L
3  Tamimi, Naser        OBHS  17  1613 OBHS1 5      8:W  2:L  1:W  9:W  4:L 11:W  6:W
4  McKee, Joe           OBHS  14  1510 OBHS2 5     14:W  6:W  5:W  2:L  3:W  1:L 13:W
5  Lau, Sean            OBHS  16  1325 OBHS1 5     12:W  9:W  4:L  7:W  2:L 14:W 10:W
6  Lough, Max           OBHS  14  1331 OBHS2 4.5    1:D  4:L 12:W 14:W  7:W  2:W  3:L
7  Box, Taine           OBHS  17  1234       4     11:W 13:W  2:L  5:L  6:L  9:W 12:W
8  Atieh, Ahmad         King  14             4      3:L  1:L 15:W 10:L  9:W 13:W 14:W
9  Gonen, Liam          Home  11             3      0:W  5:L 13:W  3:L  8:L  7:L 11:W
10 Suggate, Romero      Tahu  10             3     13:L 11:L  0:W  8:W  1:L 12:W  5:L
11 Lau, Ethan           OBHS  13  1098       3      7:L 10:W 14:W  1:L 12:W  3:L  9:L
12 Manangkil, Kyle      LiHi  12             2      5:L 15:W  6:L 13:W 11:L 10:L  7:L
13 Lau, Ryan            OBHS  15  1129 OBHS2 2     10:W  7:L  9:L 12:L 14:W  8:L  4:L
14 van Broekhoven, Loek Kaik  10             1      4:L  0:W 11:L  6:L 13:L  5:L  8:L
15 Brook, Martin        JMC   10             1      2:L 12:L  8:L  0:W  0:L  0:L  0:L
 
Team Standings
 
Place Name  Score
 
  1   OBHS1 15
  2   OBHS2 11.5
 

Otago/Southland Primary-Intermediate Individual Championship – 6 August

A very healthy field of 32 players turned out at the Otago Chess Club to compete in this year's championship. Martin Brook (10 – all ages are as at 1 January 2016, John McGlashan), made no contest of the race for first - winning all seven games to finish 1½ points ahead of his closest rival. Second went to Jin Young Kim (12, John McGlashan) on 5½ points. Six players tied for third place on 5 points: Brendan Choi (12, Queenstown), Ryan Choi (8, Queenstown), Jung Hoon Kim (9, Maori Hill), Noah Oseki (11, John McGlashan), Beckham Wilson (12, Balclutha) and Jared Lau (10, Balmacewen). First and second in the under 11 under grade was shared by Jung Hoon Kim and Jared Lau. First an the under 9 grade was Ryan Choi ahead of Stijn van Broekhoven (8, Kaikoria) on 3 points. Jemmimah McCombe-Rae won the Best Girl prize on 4 points. The John McGlashan 1 team of Jin Young Kim, Noah Oseki and Caleb Oakley (11) won the team prize with a total of 14½ points.

Cross Table
 
No Name                  Feder Rtg Loc  Club             Total  1    2    3    4    5    6    7
 
1  Brook, Martin         JMC   10  1092                  7      3:W 11:W 18:W  2:W  4:W 10:W  5:W
2  Kim, Jin Young        JMC   12  289  John McGlashan 1 5.5    6:W 23:W 13:W  1:L  9:D  4:W  3:W
3  Choi, Brendan         Qtn   12                        5      1:L 30:W  8:W 14:W  7:W  9:W  2:L
4  Choi, Ryan            Qtn   8                         5     14:W 22:W 12:W 15:W  1:L  2:L 18:W
5  Kim, Jung Hoon        MH    9   226                   5     18:L 19:W 23:W 13:W 12:W  6:W  1:L
6  Oseki, Noah           JMC   11       John McGlashan 1 5      2:L 26:W 28:W 18:W 15:W  5:L 11:W
7  Wilson, Beckham       Balc  12                        5     25:W 17:W 10:L 21:W  3:L 18:W  9:W
8  Lau, Jared            Bal   10  328  Balmacewen       5     19:W 18:L  3:L 27:W 16:W 15:W 10:W
9  Mengel, John          MH    10  462                   4     16:W 12:D 27:W 10:W  2:D  3:L  7:L
10 Oakley, Caleb         JMC   11       John McGlashan 1 4     20:W 27:W  7:W  9:L 11:W  1:L  8:L
11 McCombe-Rae, Jemmimah Crom  12                        4     30:W  1:L 26:W 20:W 10:L 13:W  6:L
12 Lobb, Oscar           JMC   12       John McGlashan 3 4     31:W  9:D  4:L 22:W  5:L 23:W 15:D
13 Wright, Nicholas      Tah   12                        4     29:W 28:W  2:L  5:L 19:W 11:L 20:W
14 Hill, Thomas          JMC   11       John McGlashan 2 4      4:L 29:W 20:W  3:L 23:L 27:W 21:W
15 Radel, Andre          JMC   12       John McGlashan 2 3.5   17:W 25:W 30:W  4:L  6:L  8:L 12:D
16 Dunn, Archie          JMC   12       John McGlashan 3 3.5    9:L 24:W 21:L 30:W  8:L 17:D 25:W
17 van Broekhoven, Loek  Kaik  10       Kaikorai 1       3.5   15:L  7:L 22:W 19:L 28:W 16:D 23:W
18 Shastri, Narayan      Tah   12                        3      5:W  8:W  1:L  6:L 21:W  7:L  4:L
19 Johnson, Daniel       JMC   12       John McGlashan 2 3      8:L  5:L 24:W 17:W 13:L 21:L 31:W
20 van Broekhoven, Stijn Kaik  8        Kaikorai 1       3     10:L 31:W 14:L 11:L 22:W 29:W 13:L
21 Strange, Riley        Tah   11                        3     27:L 32:W 16:W  7:L 18:L 19:W 14:L
22 Yao, Gary             JMC   11  104                   3     26:W  4:L 17:L 12:L 20:L 30:W 27:W
23 Atieh, Yasmeen        Bal   11       Balmacewen       2.5   32:W  2:L  5:L 31:D 14:W 12:L 17:L
24 Williams, Miro        JMC   11       John McGlashan 3 2.5    0:D 16:L 19:L 32:W 31:W  0:L  0:L
25 McCombe-Rae, Kaleb    Crom  9                         2.5    7:L 15:L 32:D 28:W 27:L 31:W 16:L
26 Wong, Vania           SacH  8   128                   2.5   22:L  6:L 11:L 29:D 30:D 28:D 32:W
27 Hanson, Leevi         Bal   12  219  Balmacewen       2     21:W 10:L  9:L  8:L 25:W 14:L 22:L
28 van Broekhoven, Nout  Kaik  7        Kaikorai 1       2      0:W 13:L  6:L 25:L 17:L 26:D 29:D
29 Trotman, Pippa        Kaik  9        Kaikorai 2       2     13:L 14:L 31:L 26:D 32:W 20:L 28:D
30 Shaw, Jackson         Kaik  10       Kaikorai 2       1.5   11:L  3:L 15:L 16:L 26:D 22:L  0:W
31 Matheson, Andrew      Out   10                        1.5   12:L 20:L 29:W 23:D 24:L 25:L 19:L
32 Brits, Sienna         Kaik  7        Kaikorai 2       1.5   23:L 21:L 25:D 24:L 29:L  0:W 26:L
33 Bryant, Tristan       Qtn   9                         .5     0:D  0:L  0:L  0:L  0:L  0:L  0:L
 
Team Standings
 
Place Name             Score
 
  1   JOHN MCGLASHAN 1 14.5
  2   JOHN MCGLASHAN 2 10.5
  3   JOHN MCGLASHAN 3 10
  4   BALMACEWEN       9.5
  5   KAIKORAI 1       8.5
  6   KAIKORAI 2       5
 

Thematic tournament – 3 August

Eight players contested the round-robin with a blitz time control of Bronstein 5 mins plus 3 seconds per move, as eight players from the rapid championship had to finished postponed games instead. This year using Bob Clarkson’s pack of 52 cards with opening printed on them the openings were changed every round, so ranged from the solid English (1.c4) to the not-so-solid Latvian Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5!?). Newcomer Simon Li arrived just in time to take part in his first club event and proved a formidable blitz player, winning with 6/7 ahead of Naser Tamimi second on 5½, the same score which was good enough the previous year for Naser to win outright. Third was shared by Sean & Ryan Lau on 4 points. Despite finishing in last place, Shoji Fukushima had the distinction of being the only player to beat the winner and draw with the runner up. Final scores: 1 Simon Li 6/7; 2 Naser Tamimi 5½; 3-4 Sean Lau & Ryan Lau 4; 5 Max Lough 3; 6-7 Hildon Nisa & Taine Box 2; 8 Shoji Fukushima 1½.

Club Rapid Championship 1st leg – 3 August

New rules applied this year meant that competition between grades was represent more fairly in terms of relative performance and all were closely fought. Defending Champion and top seed Quentin Johnson scored 4½/6 in the A Grade to take a narrow lead over Leighton Nicholls on 4 points. In The B Grade Riley Jellyman again emerged the winner on 4/6 to earn promotion to the A Grade ahead of Naser Tamimi and new member Edward Sarfas tied for second on 3½. The C Grade was a tie for first between Sean Lau and Taine Box on 3½, with Sean earning promotion to the B Grade by winning a blitz playoff 2-0. The D-Grade was another tie for first between Bob Clarkson and Brent Southgate on 4 points. Hildon Nisa earned promotion from the E Grade with a convincing 4½ points. In the combined cross table below the inter-grade handicap of 6½ points has been added to the A grade, 4 to the B Grade, 2 to the C Grade, 1½ to the D Grade and ½ to the E-Grade (after a late entry increased the average rating) and show the overall standings after the first leg. The handicaps are derived from the difference in expected score between the average rating of each grade.

Cross Table
 
No Name                 Feder Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6
 
1  Johnson, Quentin J F A     2056 11     3:D  3:W  5:W  5:W  2:L  2:W
2  Nicholls, Leighton   A     1859 10.5   5:W  5:W  3:L  3:W  1:W  1:L
3  Sutherland, John L   A     2046 9      1:D  1:L  2:W  2:L  5:W  5:L
4  Jellyman, Riley      B     1628 8      7:W  7:W  6:W  6:L 12:W 12:L
5  Gold, Hamish R       A     1785 7.5    2:L  2:L  1:L  1:L  3:L  3:W
6  Sarfas, Edward       B     1596 7.5   12:W 12:W  4:L  4:W  7:L  7:D
7  Tamimi, Naser        B     1613 7.5    4:L  4:L 12:W 12:W  6:W  6:D
8  Box, Taine           C     1234 5.5   13:D 13:W  9:W  9:L 15:W 15:L
9  Lau, Sean            C     1325 5.5   15:W 15:L  8:L  8:W 13:D 13:W
10 Southgate, Brent     D     1299 5.5   17:W 17:W 16:D 16:D 11:W 11:L
11 Clarkson, Robert D   D     1351 5.5   16:W 16:W 17:W 17:L 10:L 10:W
12 Duffield, Terence    B     1485 5      6:L  6:L  7:L  7:L  4:L  4:W
13 Fukushima, Shoji     C     1405 5      8:D  8:L 15:W 15:W  9:D  9:L
14 Nisa, Hildon         E     1190 5     18:L 18:W 18:W 18:W 19:W 19:D
15 Lau, Ethan           C     1098 4      9:L  9:W 13:L 13:L  8:L  8:W
16 Lau, Ryan            D     1129 3.5   11:L 11:L 10:D 10:D 17:W 17:L
17 Armstrong, John F    D     1212 3.5   10:L 10:L 11:L 11:W 16:L 16:W
18 Hopkins, Dale        E     990  2     14:W 14:L 14:L 14:L  0:   0:-
19 Lough, Max           E     1331 2      0:   0:   0:   0:  14:L 14:D
 

Cleland Trophy – 6 July

The Cleland Trophy was decided somewhat anticlimactically in the final round, when leader John Sutherland only arrived at the club after the round had started. Rather than halt play and redo the draw, John didn't play. So Quentin Johnson retained the trophy finishing on 5/6, having lost to Sutherland but won his other games. Naser Tamimi was the only player in a position to match Johnson, afetr a very strong tournament. But having prepared to face Sutherland in the final round, he found he had to play Leighton Nicholls. A tactical oversight forced Naser into a sacrificial attack, for which he never quite had enough compensation. Thus Nicholls joined Sutherland in second place on 4½, followed by Tamimi fourth on 4 points. Sean Lau and Taine Box both recorded solid results in finishing on 3 along with Vee-Liem Saw, who had to miss the final round in his last club event until his return to Dunedin in December.

Cross Table
 
No Name                 Loc  Club Total  1    2    3    4    5    6
 
1  Johnson, Quentin J F 2170 OT   5     15:W  4:W  2:W  3:L 11:W  7:W
2  Nicholls, Leighton   1985 OT   4.5    9:W 16:W  1:L  5:D 12:W  4:W
3  Sutherland, John L   2206 OT   4.5    8:W 17:W  5:W  1:W  0:D  0:L
4  Tamimi, Naser        1716 OT   4     20:W  1:L 13:W  7:W  5:W  2:L
5  Southgate, Brent     1803 OT   3.5   19:W 13:W  3:L  2:D  4:L 12:W
6  Clarkson, Robert D   1644 OT   3.5   12:D  7:D  8:L 19:D 18:W 14:W
7  Aimers, Geoffrey     1903 OT   3      0:D  6:D 11:W  4:L 15:W  1:L
8  Saw, Vee-Liem        1623 OT   3      3:L 18:W  6:W 11:L 14:W  0:L
9  Lau, Sean            1538 OT   3      2:L  0:D 14:L 13:W  0:D 15:W
10 Box, Taine                OT   3     13:L 15:L  0:W 12:L 19:W 18:W
11 Duffield, Terence    1809 OT   2.5    0:D 12:W  7:L  8:W  1:L  0:L
12 Fukushima, Shoji          OT   2.5    6:D 11:L 20:W 10:W  2:L  5:L
13 Reid, David M        1627 OT   2.5   10:W  5:L  4:L  9:L 20:D 19:W
14 Lau, Ethan                OT   2     16:L 19:D  9:W  0:D  8:L  6:L
15 Nisa, Hildon         1621 OT   2      1:L 10:W 16:L  0:W  7:L  9:L
16 McKee, Joe           1638 OT   2     14:W  2:L 15:W  0:L  0:L  0:L
17 Jellyman, Riley      1691 OT   1.5   18:W  3:L  0:D  0:L  0:L  0:L
18 Lau, Ryan            1282 OT   1.5   17:L  8:L  0:D 20:W  6:L 10:L
19 Armstrong, John F    1530 OT   1.5    5:L 14:D  0:D  6:D 10:L 13:L
20 Lough, Max           1444 OT   1      4:L  0:D 12:L 18:L 13:D  0:L
 

Otago/Southland Primary and Intermediate Interschool Teams Championship 2016 – 2 July

19 teams from 12 schools played for the twelfth annual Otago Primary and Intermediate Interschool Teams' Championships at Dunedin North Intermediate School. Defending champions Balmacewen A were trounced 4-0 in their individual match with last year's runners-up Tahuna Normal in the third round. This proved decisive, as Tahuna just managed to defend their lead through the rest of the close competition, finishing first on 22/27. Balmacewen A were second on 20 points and John McGlashan B third on 18 points.
Leading individual scorers were Board 1: Martin Brook (John McGlashan B) 6½/7, Romero Suggate (Tahuna) 6/7, Zishen Fu (Balmacewen A) 5½/7; Board 2: Abdhul Alkharusi (Tahuna) 5½/7, Jared Lau (Balmacewen A) 5/7, Luke Geddes (DNI A) 5/7, Dart Watson (Tarras) 5/7; Board 3: Nick Wright (Tahuna) 6½/7, Noah Oseki (John McGlashan A) 6½/7, Aaron Nelson (Balmacewen A) 5/7; Board 4: Max Baldwin (John McGlashan B) 6/7, Lance McClimont (Tarras) 5/7, Leevi Hanson (Balmac A) 4½/7.

Cross Table
 
No Name                  Total  1      2      3      4      5      6      7
 
1  Tahuna Intermediate,  22.0   7:3.0  6:4.0  2:4.0  3:2.0  4:2.0  5:3.0  8:4.0
2  Balmacewen Int A,     20.0   5:2.5  8:4.0  1:0.0  9:4.0  3:2.5  4:3.0 10:4.0
3  John McGlashan B,     18.0   4:2.0 10:2.5  5:4.0  1:2.0  2:1.5  8:3.0  6:3.0
4  John McGlashan A,     17.5   3:2.0  5:1.5  7:4.0  6:3.5  1:2.0  2:1.0  9:3.5
5  Tarras,               15.5   2:1.5  4:2.5  3:0.0 10:4.0  9:3.5  1:1.0  7:3.0
6  Dunedin North Int A,  12.5   9:3.0  1:0.0 10:3.5  4:.5   8:2.0  7:2.5  3:1.0
7  Dunedin North Int B,  12.0   1:1.0  9:2.5  4:0.0  8:2.5 10:3.5  6:1.5  5:1.0
8  Kavanagh A,           9.0   10:2.5  2:0.0  9:2.0  7:1.5  6:2.0  3:1.0  1:0.0
9  Balmacewen Int B,     8.5    6:1.0  7:1.5  8:2.0  2:0.0  5:.5  10:3.0  4:.5
10 Kavanagh B,           5.0    8:1.5  3:1.5  6:.5   5:0.0  7:.5   9:1.0  2:0.0
 

In the Primary section George St Normal proved convincing winners over defending champions Maori Hill – these were the only teams not to benefit from a 4-point bye in the nine-team competition. George St finished first on 24/27 by a clear margin. Maori Hill were second on 18 points and St Joseph's Cathedral School A finished third on 17½ points.
Leading individual scorers were Board 1: Samuel Kelly (George St) 6/7, John Mengel (Maori Hill) 5/7, Ava Williams (St Joseph's A) 4½/6; Board 2: Oliver Hobbs (George St) 7/7, Jung Hoon Kim (Maori Hill) 6/7, Sean Kerr (Kaikorai B) 4/6; Board 3: Jake Owen (George St) 6/7, Ben Casey (St Joseph's B) 4/6, Joseph Brenner (St Joseph's A) 3½/6, Daniel Brienesse (Waverley Park) 3½/6; Board 4: Nathaniel Miller-Coote (St Joseph's A) 5/6, Harrison Tonkin (George St) 5/7.

Cross Table
 
No Name               Total 1     2     3     4     5     6     7
 
1  George St Normal,  24.0  5:3.5 6:4.0 3:2.5 2:2.5 7:4.0 8:3.5 9:4.0
2  Maori Hill,        18.0  7:2.5 8:3.0 5:2.0 1:1.5 4:3.5 3:2.0 6:3.5
3  St Josephs A,      17.5  4:2.5 7:3.0 1:1.5 6:2.5 5:2.0 2:2.0 0:4.0
4  St Josephs B,      15.0  3:1.5 9:3.0 6:1.0 8:3.0 2:.5  0:4.0 7:2.0
5  Waverley Park,     14.5  1:.5  0:4.0 2:2.0 9:3.0 3:2.0 6:1.5 8:1.5
6  Kaikorai B,        14.5  0:4.0 1:0.0 4:3.0 3:1.5 9:3.0 5:2.5 2:.5
7  Kaikorai A,        14.0  2:1.5 3:1.0 8:2.5 0:4.0 1:0.0 9:3.0 4:2.0
8  St Clair A,        13.5  9:3.0 2:1.0 7:1.5 4:1.0 0:4.0 1:.5  5:2.5
9  St Clair B,        9.0   8:1.0 4:1.0 0:4.0 5:1.0 6:1.0 7:1.0 1:0.0
 

Thanks to Dunedin North Intermediate School for providing the venue once again.

Otago/Southland Secondary Interschool Teams Championship 2016 – 18 June

Eight teams from four schools played for the twelfth annual Otago Secondary Interschool Teams' Championship at Otago Boys' High School on Saturday 18 June. Kavanagh College returned to the competition after a break of several years, taking on multiple teams from hosts Otago Boys’ High School and regular competitors Logan Park High School and John McGlashan College.
The hosts' A team defended their title convincingly. The team won all their individual games bar one – Naser Tamimi was upset on board 1 by Taine Box of the OBHS B team. OBHS A finished first on 27/28, ahead of the OBHS B team, second on 23½ points and Logan Park A, third on 17½ points. These three teams qualify for the South Island finals in Ashburton on 31 August, while OBHS A go on to the national finals in Palmerston North on 24-25 September.
Leading individual scorers were Board 1: Taine Box (OBHS B) 7/7, Naser Tamimi (OBHS A) 6/7; Daniel Wallace (LPHS A) 5/7; Board 2: Riley Jellyman (OBHS A) 7/7, Max Lough (OBHS B) 6/7; Board 3: Joe McKee (OBHS A) 7/7, Nic Elkins (OBHS C) 5/7; Board 4: Sean Lau (OBHS A) 7/7, Ethan Lau (OBHS B) 6/7, Grant McNaughton (LPHS A) 5/7. Thanks to Otago Boys’ High School for providing the venue once again.

No	Name	Total	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5	#6	#7	#8
1	Otago Boys HS A,	27.0	*	3.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
2	Otago Boys HS B,	23.5	1.0	*	4.0	4.0	3.0	4.0	3.5	4.0
3	Logan Park HS A,	17.5	0.0	0.0	*	2.0	3.5	4.0	4.0	4.0
4	Otago Boys HS C,	16.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	*	3.0	3.5	4.0	3.5
5	John McGlashan College A,	11.5	0.0	1.0	.5	1.0	*	2.5	3.0	3.5
6	Logan Park HS B,	8.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	.5	1.5	*	2.0	4.0
7	John McGlashan College B,	6.0	0.0	.5	0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0	*	2.5
8	Kavanagh College,	2.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	.5	.5	0.0	1.5	*

Matai Bowen (LPHS B) and Sam Meikle (Kavanagh)	Daniel Wallace (LPHS A) and Fraser Reynolds (JMC A)	Caed Faloon (OBHS C) and Naser Tamimi (OBHS A)	Daniel Thom (JMC B) and Taine Box (OBHS B)

Winter Rapid Open – 11 June

The Winter Rapid Open drew a very healthy field of 22 to play chess in front of the channel 39 camera. The local station was covering the event after being alerted by President Bob Clarkson as a promotional idea. As well as a strong local turnout, Ross Black came from Christchurch, Brian Williams from Palmerston North and Nigel Cooper all the way from Waiheke Island. Ross Black and Terry Duffield were the only casualties of upsets in the first round to Sean Lau and Taine Box respectively. In round two Wolfie Martin drew with Cooper, while Ethan Lau defeated Williams, both presaging tournament results that showed their ratings were too low. Meanwhile top seed Quentin Johnson survived a pawn sacrifice for strong attacking pressure from Naser Tamimi, when the latter went wrong in the complications. The third round saw Johnson just defeat strong resistance from Riley Jellyman, mating with a few seconds left on the clock. He was joined in the lead by Rene Sterk, playing in his second rapid open after a break of seven years, after defeating second seed Hamish Gold. The battle between the leaders in the fourth round ened in a vistiory for Johnson after Sterk went initiated a faulty combination and lost a piece. Martin moved into second place half a point behind with a defeat of Gold. Half a point behind him, Sterk, Jellyman, Tamimi and Black were all in contention going into the final round. Johnson essayed a speculative piece sac against Martin, which bore fruit when the latter failed to find the best defence, taking first with 5/5. Black and Sterk drew to join Martin in shared third on 3½, behind Jellyman, who defeated OBHS teammate Tamimi to take second place on 4 points. the undre 1600 grade was won by Martin, ahead of a four-way tie for second on 3 points between Tamimi, Joe Mckee, Vee-Liem Saw and Duffield. The U1200 grade was won by Ethan Laau, also on 3, ahead of Sean Lau, Box, and Carlssen van Rooyen tied for second on 2 points.

Cross Table
 
No Name                 Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5
 
1  Johnson, Quentin J F 2061 5     15:W  6:W  2:W  3:W  4:W
2  Jellyman, Riley      1651 4     17:W  8:W  1:L  9:W  6:W
3  Sterk, Rene          1750 3.5   20:W 13:W  7:W  1:L  5:D
4  Martin, Wolfie       1500 3.5   22:W 12:D 11:W  7:W  1:L
5  Black, Ross          1622 3.5   13:L 16:W 12:W 10:W  3:D
6  Tamimi, Naser        1508 3     21:W  1:L 14:W  8:W  2:L
7  Gold, Hamish R       1789 3     18:W  9:W  3:L  4:L 13:W
8  McKee, Joe           1509 3     10:W  2:L 13:W  6:L 14:W
9  Saw, Vee-Liem        1560 3     16:W  7:L 20:W  2:L 12:W
10 Lau, Ethan           870  3      8:L 18:W 19:W  5:L 15:W
11 Duffield, Terence    1517 3     14:L 19:W  4:L 17:W 16:W
12 Cooper, Nigel        1573 2.5   19:W  4:D  5:L 15:W  9:L
13 Lau, Sean            1190 2      5:W  3:L  8:L 18:W  7:L
14 Box, Taine           945  2     11:W 15:L  6:L 20:W  8:L
15 Fukushima, Shoji     1445 2      1:L 14:W 17:W 12:L 10:L
16 Van Rooyen, Carlssen 1010 2      9:L  5:L 21:W 19:W 11:L
17 Nisa, Hildon         1359 2      2:L 22:W 15:L 11:L 20:W
18 Williams, Brian      1400 2      7:L 10:L 22:W 13:L 21:W
19 Lau, Ryan            1139 1     12:L 11:L 10:L 16:L 22:W
20 Clarkson, Robert D   1367 1      3:L 21:W  9:L 14:L 17:L
21 Atieh, Ahmad         800  1      6:L 20:L 16:L 22:W 18:L
22 Van Rooyen, Chistoph 770  0      4:L 17:L 18:L 21:L 19:L
 

Swiss Rapid – 25 May

The Swiss Rapid was convincingly won by second seed Iain Lamont. He drew with top seed Quentin Johnson in round four and defeated all is other opponents to take clear first on 5½/6. Naser Tamimi had a greta tournament to finish clear second on 5 points, losing only to Lamont in round 2. A point further back was Leighton Nicholls, who missed two rounds due to illness. Of the group on 3½, Sean Lau and Taine Box plundered the most rating points.

Cross Table
 
No Name                 Loc  Club Total  1    2    3    4    5    6
 
1  Lamont, Iain         1897 OT   5.5   14:W  2:W 11:W  6:D  3:W  4:W
2  Tamimi, Naser        1508 OT   5     23:W  1:L 12:W  9:W 10:W  5:W
3  Nicholls, Leighton   1882 OT   4      0:D  0:D 14:W  7:W  1:L 10:W
4  Saw, Vee-Liem        1560 OT   3.5    5:D 16:W 13:W 11:L 14:W  1:L
5  Southgate, Brent     1303 OT   3.5    4:D 21:W  0:D  0:D  9:W  2:L
6  Johnson, Quentin J F 2061 OT   3.5   21:W 10:W  9:W  1:D  0:L  0:L
7  Lau, Sean            1190 OT   3.5   10:L 19:W 23:W  3:L 13:W  8:D
8  Box, Taine           945  OT   3.5    9:L 12:L 21:W 23:W 16:W  7:D
9  Fukushima, Shoji     1445 OT   3      8:W 13:W  6:L  2:L  5:L 17:W
10 McKee, Joe           1509 OT   3      7:W  6:L 17:W 16:W  2:L  3:L
11 Duffield, Terence    1517 OT   3     12:W 22:W  1:L  4:W  0:L  0:L
12 Armstrong, John F    1214 OT   3     11:L  8:W  2:L 13:L 17:W 16:W
13 Jellyman, Riley      1651 OT   3     19:W  9:L  4:L 12:W  7:L 14:W
14 Clarkson, Robert D   1367 OT   2      1:L 23:W  3:L 22:W  4:L 13:L
15 Sutherland, John L   2051 OT   2      0:D  0:D  0:D  0:D  0:L  0:L
16 Lough, Max           1406 OT   2     17:W  4:L 22:W 10:L  8:L 12:L
17 Lau, Ethan           870  OT   2     16:L  0:W 10:L 19:W 12:L  9:L
18 Sarfas, Edward            OT   2      0:   0:   0:   0:  23:W 19:W
19 Nisa, Hildon         1359 OT   1.5   13:L  7:L 24:W 17:L 21:D 18:L
20 Gold, Hamish R       1789 OT   1      0:D  0:D  0:L  0:L  0:L  0:L
21 Hopkins, Dale             OT   1      6:L  5:L  8:L  0:D 19:D 23:L
22 Fu, Zishen           696  OT   1      0:W 11:L 16:L 14:L  0:L  0:L
23 Lau, Ryan            1139 OT   1      2:L 14:L  7:L  8:L 18:L 21:W
24 Curran, Riley             OT   .5     0:   0:  19:L  0:D  0:L  0:L
 

Shuffle tournament – 6 May

13 players took part in the shuffle chess tournament, which was a six round Swiss. Random starting positions and a 5 minutes 3 seconds Bronstein time limit threw up some very disorienting middlegames, and removed the experience advantage of some players, but not the Lau brothers. Top seed Quentin Johnson managed to survive three lost positions on his way to 6/6 and first place, ahead of Ryan Lau second on 4½, with Sean and Ethan Lau sharing third on 4 points.

Cross Table
 
No Name                 Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6
 
1  Johnson, Quentin J F 2061 6      9:W 10:W  4:W  2:W  7:W  3:W
2  Lau, Ryan            1139 4.5   11:W  6:D  3:W  1:L 13:W  7:W
3  Lau, Sean            1190 4      6:W  7:W  2:L  4:W  5:W  1:L
4  Lau, Ethan           870  4      0:W  5:W  1:L  3:L 11:W  8:W
5  Fukushima, Shoji     1445 3.5    8:W  4:L  9:D  6:W  3:L 11:W
6  Lough, Max           1406 3.5    3:L  2:D 12:W  5:L  9:W 10:W
7  Sutherland, John L   2051 3     12:W  3:L 10:W 13:W  1:L  2:L
8  Armstrong, John F    1214 3      5:L 11:L  0:W 10:W 12:W  4:L
9  Nisa, Hildon         1359 2.5    1:L 12:W  5:D 11:L  6:L  0:W
10 Clarkson, Robert D   1367 2     13:W  1:L  7:L  8:L  0:W  6:L
11 Hopkins, Dale        1400 2      2:L  8:W 13:L  9:W  4:L  5:L
12 Field, Steven        1300 2      7:L  9:L  6:L  0:W  8:L 13:W
13 Curran, Riley        1000 2     10:L  0:W 11:W  7:L  2:L 12:L
 

Club Championship – 27 April

After the first leg of the 2016 Club Championship, John Sutherland leads the A grade on 4/5, half a point ahead of Leighton Nicholls, while former champion Iain Lamont is a further half point behind. Quentin Johnson's 2 points are unlikely to be enough to defend his 2015 title. Terry Duffield gained rating points on 1½, and Geoff Aimers rounded out the field on 1.
The B grade was dominated by OBHS team mates Riley Jellyman and Naser Tamimi. Riley finished on 4/5 just half a point ahead of Naser. Top seed Brent Southgate dropped points to these two but finished next on 3 points, followed by Vee-Liem Saw on 2 after a late promotion from the C Grade. Hamish Gold on 1½ and David Reid on 1 point found the going tough this year.
The C grade was a six-round Swiss. John Armstrong started with a string of wins, but two late losses left him on 4/6 half a point behind returning member Shoji Fukushima on 4½. Late surges by Ryan and Sean Lau put them next on 3½, overtaking Taine Box whose early momentum ran out, finishing on 3.
The new rules this year mean that each grade start with a base score and/or a scaling factor, to allow performances to be roughly compared between grades, based on the average rating of the field in each grade. That allows players in different grades to compete for the same trophy on fairer terms than in the past. The Championship totals in the link below show the effect of these adjustments.

A Grade

No	Name	Loc	Total	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5	#6
1	Sutherland, John L	2206	4	*	½	½	1	1	1
2	Nicholls, Leighton	1985	3.5	½	*	1	½	1	½
3	Lamont, Iain	2140	3	½	0	*	1	½	1
4	Johnson, Quentin J F	2170	2	0	½	0	*	½	1
5	Duffield, Terence	1809	1.5	0	0	½	½	*	½
6	Aimers, Geoffrey	1903	1	0	½	0	0	½	*

B Grade

No	Name	Loc	Total	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5	#6
1	Jellyman, Riley	1691	4	*	½	1	1	½	1
2	Tamimi, Naser	1716	3.5	½	*	1	1	0	1
3	Southgate, Brent	1803	3	0	0	*	1	1	1
4	Saw, Vee-Liem	1623	2	0	0	0	*	1	1
5	Gold, Hamish R	1793	1.5	½	1	0	0	*	0
6	Reid, David M	1627	1	0	0	0	0	1	*

C Grade

Cross Table
 
No Name              Loc  Total  1   2   3   4   5   6
 
1  Fukushima, Shoji       4.5    6:½ 4:1 7:1 2:1 5:1 3:0
2  Armstrong, John F 1530 4      5:1 7:1 3:1 1:0 6:1 4:0
3  Lau, Ryan         1282 3.5    0:½ 6:1 2:0 5:0 8:1 1:1
4  Lau, Sean         1538 3.5    0:½ 1:0 5:0 8:1 7:1 2:1
5  Box, Taine             3      2:0 8:1 4:1 3:1 1:0 6:0
6  Nisa, Hildon      1621 2.5    1:½ 3:0 8:0 7:1 2:0 5:1
7  Lau, Ethan             2      8:1 2:0 1:0 6:0 4:0 0:1
8  Lough, Max        1444 1      7:0 5:0 6:1 4:0 3:0 0:0
9  Saw, Vee-Liem     1623 1     10:1 0:  0:  0:  0:  0:
10 Medlicott, Andrew 1250 0      9:0 0:0 0:0 0:0 0:0 0:0
 

Blitz tournament – 16 March

The five minutes time limit gave everyone a chance in any game, with no player scoring less than two wins or avoiding less than two losses. The competition for first was close, with a four-way tie for first.

Final scores: 1-4 Quentin Johnson, Iain Lamont, Leighton Nicholls & Naser Tamimi 8/10; 5 Riley Jellyman 6; 6-7 Taine Box & Ryan Lau 4; 8 Vee-Liem Saw 3; 9-11 Ethan Lau, Shoji Fukushima & John Armstrong 2.

Alan Chang Memorial – 9 March

The Alan Chang 10 minute hourglass tournament again produced very tough competition for both the tournament victory and the Alan Chang Trophy for the biggest upset. New member Taine Box staked a claim of the trophy with a huge upset win over Terry Duffield in the first round. Another new member Ethan Lau came very close in round three with an upset win over David Reid. But Box emphasised his grip with a win of returning member Shoji Fukshima in round 4 to in effect be first and second in terms of greatest upset. Upsets throughout the event resulted in a fascinating battle for victory in the tournament. Top seed Quentin Johnson drew with Geoff Aimers and then lost to second seed John Sutherland. Sutherland in turn drew with Riley Jellyman and lost to third seed Iain Lamont. Thus Lamont was the only undefeated player and won the tournament half a point ahead of Sutherland, Aimers, Johnson, Jellyman, and Naser Tamimi tied for second on 3½ points. Taine Box and Ethan Lau pocketed many rating points for their efforts.

Cross Table
 
No Name                 Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5
 
1  Lamont, Iain         1897 4      0:D 12:W  0:D  7:W  2:W
2  Sutherland, John L   2051 3.5   19:W  6:D 10:W  4:W  1:L
3  Aimers, Geoffrey     1745 3.5   13:W  4:D  6:W  9:D  5:D
4  Johnson, Quentin J F 2061 3.5   14:W  3:D  9:W  2:L 10:W
5  Tamimi, Naser        1508 3.5    7:W  9:L 12:W  8:W  3:D
6  Jellyman, Riley      1651 3.5   16:W  2:D  3:L 11:W  9:W
7  Lau, Ethan           870  3      5:L 18:W 15:W  1:L 13:W
8  Saw, Vee-Liem        1560 3      0:D  0:D 13:W  5:L 12:W
9  Nicholls, Leighton   1882 2.5   18:W  5:W  4:L  3:D  6:L
10 Gold, Hamish R       1789 2.5    0:D 17:W  2:L 16:W  4:L
11 Lough, Max           1406 2.5    0:D 15:D 16:D  6:L 19:W
12 Box, Taine           945  2     20:W  1:L  5:L 14:W  8:L
13 Lau, Sean            1190 2      3:L 14:W  8:L 20:W  7:L
14 Fukushima, Shoji     1445 2      4:L 13:L 17:W 12:L 16:W
15 Reid, David M        1336 1.5    0:D 11:D  7:L  0:D  0:L
16 Lau, Ryan            1139 1.5    6:L 19:W 11:D 10:L 14:L
17 Clarkson, Robert D   1367 1.5    0:D 10:L 14:L 18:W  0:L
18 Armstrong, John F    1214 1.5    9:L  7:L  0:D 17:L 21:W
19 Southgate, Brent     1303 1.5    2:L 16:L  0:D 21:W 11:L
20 Duffield, Terence    1517 1     12:L  0:D  0:D 13:L  0:L
21 Medlicott, Andrew    919  0      0:   0:   0:  19:L 18:L
 

Autumn Rapid Open – 5 March

The 2016 Seasonal Rapids to determine the winner of the Westpac 30-30 Trophy began with the Autumn Rapid, with a healthy 18 players turned out on Saturday afternoon. Former club member David Weegenaar, visiting from Christchurch, was top seed although he was the first to admit that his high rapid rating was based on only a handful of games. This was borne out in the first round, when Weegenaar miscalculated when trying to win against Naser Tamimi in a very tricky and probably level position and lost. Another major upset was caused by Riley Jellyman losing his queen to Taine Box. Leighton Nicholls and Quentin Johnson were the only players to reach 3/3 and contested the lead in round 4. An unsound exchange sacrifice paid off for Johnson who took the sole lead on 4/4 followed by Nicholls, Tamimi, Rick Loos of Oamaru, Sean Lau & Joe McKee all on 3 points. The final round saw Johnson escape with a draw after earlier overlooking a nice tactic by Tamimi, to secure 1st place. Nicholls beat McKee and Loos beat Sean Lau to share second place. The under 1600 grade was won by Tamimi on 3½, ahead of McKee 2nd on 3 points. The under 1200 grade went to Sean Lau on 3 ahead of a three way tie for second on 2 points between Ryan Lau, Box and Martin Brook making a strong debut in an open tournament.
The next rapid open is the Winter Rapid on Saturday 11 June.

Cross Table
 
No Name                 Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5
 
1  Johnson, Quentin J F 2061 4.5   12:W  6:W  3:W  2:W  4:D
2  Nicholls, Leighton   1882 4     15:W  4:W  5:W  1:L  6:W
3  Loos, Rick           1599 4     14:W 10:W  1:L 13:W  5:W
4  Tamimi, Naser        1508 3.5    8:W  2:L  9:W 11:W  1:D
5  Lau, Sean            1190 3      7:W 16:W  2:L  8:W  3:L
6  McKee, Joe           1509 3     17:W  1:L  7:W 16:W  2:L
7  Gold, Hamish R       1789 3      5:L 11:W  6:L 10:W 12:W
8  Weegenaar, David P   2286 3      4:L 15:W 10:W  5:L 13:W
9  Black, Ross          1653 3     10:L 14:W  4:L 15:W 11:W
10 Lau, Ryan            1139 2      9:W  3:L  8:L  7:L 18:W
11 Box, Taine           945  2     13:W  7:L 16:W  4:L  9:L
12 Lough, Max           1406 2      1:L 17:W 13:L 14:W  7:L
13 Jellyman, Riley      1651 2     11:L 18:W 12:W  3:L  8:L
14 Brook, Martin        900  2      3:L  9:L 17:W 12:L 16:W
15 Armstrong, John F    1214 1      2:L  8:L 18:W  9:L 17:L
16 Saw, Vee-Liem        1560 1     18:W  5:L 11:L  6:L 14:L
17 Suggate, Romero      600  1      6:L 12:L 14:L 18:L 15:W
18 Lau, Ethan           870  1     16:L 13:L 15:L 17:W 10:L
 

2016 Otago chess club AGM – 10 February

Bob Clarkson stayed on a President, as did all the other main officers. Subscriptions also remained the same. The 2016 committee comprises:
President: Bob Clarkson; Vice President: Brent Southgate; Secretary: Leighton Nicholls; Treasurer: John Sutherland; Director of Junior Play: Quentin Johnson; Past-President: Geoff Aimers; Committee members: Terry Duffield, Naser Tamimi & Riley Jellyman; Auditor: Bob Glass; Patron: Bob Glass.

Opening Night – 27 January

The traditional Presidents vs Vice Presidents match was between teams of five players at a time limit of Bronstein 50 mins plus 2s per move. The teams were well chosen and evenly matched, so the overall result came down to then final game, fittingly between VP Brent Soughgate and President Bob Clarkson. Clarkson won to take the match for the Presidents team 3-2.
President vs Vice President
Bob Clarkson 1-0 Brent Southgtate
Quentin Johnson 1-0 Leighton Nicholls
Geoff Aimers ½-½ Naser Tamimi
Terry Duffield 0-1 Riley Jellyman
John Armstrong ½-½ David Reid

Latest News

Watch this space for up-to-date news of chess events from the Otago region.
Closing Night prizegiving and quiz – 7 December
The trophy winners for 2016 were:
Senior Club Standard Championship – John Sutherland
Intermediate Club Standard Championship – Naser Tamimi
Junior Club Standard Championship – Shoji Fukushima
Standard Perpetual Championship – Riley Jellyman
Senior Club Rapid Championship – Quentin Johnson
Intermediate Club Rapid Championship – Naser Tamimi
Junior Club Rapid Championship – Brent Southgate
Rapid Perpetual Championship – Shoji Fukushima
JJ Marlow Trophy for under 20 Championship – Leighton Nicholls
Cleland Trophy – Quentin Johnson
Richard Sutton Trophy – Quentin Johnson & Leighton Nicholls
The quiz was won by the Arctic Circle, ahead of the Chess Gypsies then the Magnetoes and the Chasers.
Summer Rapid Open – 3 December
The Summer Rapid Open saw 14 players compete with Ross Black unable to make it this time from Christchurch, the only non-local was Stefan Markx from Queenstown. All games went to seeding in the first round, but in round 2 Riley Jellyman defeated top seed Quentin Johnson in a well-played game where his lasting pressure in in a rook and opposite couloured bishop ending drew the necessary mistakes from his opponent. Shoji Fukushima aslo upset his opponent Vee-Liem Saw. In round three, Jellyman took the sole lead by a point by defeating Naser Tamimi, while Johnson inflicetd a loss on Edward Sarfas after the latter spoiled a good position with a tactical oversight leading to mate. In round four Jellyman continued on his winning way with victory over Wolfie Martin. Johnson and Sarfas were the the only players to stay in touch, with wins over Clarkson and Tamimi respectively. At the other end of the table the battle between Ahmad Atieh and Romero Suggate was closely fought, with Atieh coing out the victor to register his first point. In the final round Jellyman made no mistake against Sarfas, eventually converting a pawn ending with the outside passed pawn to take first outright with a convincing and well-deserved 5/5. Johnson won his usual crazy battle with Hamish Gold to come second alone on 4 points. Third was shared by Sarfas, Tamimi, Martin and Taine Box on 3 points, with Box taking out first prize in the U1400 grade. Second in the grade was shared by Stefan MArkx, Bob Clarkson, Shoji Fukushima and Hildon Nisa, all on 2 points.
The next rapid open is the Autumn Rapid on Saturday 4 March 2017.
View Crosstable
Perpetual Handicap – 30 November
Shoji Fukushima lead the Rapid throughout the year and held off a late surge by Leighton Nicholls to win the Rapid Perpetual Trophy on +92 ahead of Leighton 2nd on +87 and Brent Southgate 3rd on +67. The Standard was a close tussle all year between Riley Jellyman and Naser Tamimi, who were tied for the lead a few weeks from the end. An upset loss to Hamish Gold eventually sank Naser's chances and Riley won the Standard Perputual Trophy on +99 ahead of Naser 2nd on +71 and Leighton Nicholls 3rd on +58. Leighton's appearance on both podiums is a testament to his steep improvement in the last year, establishing a NZCF standard rating over 2000 and reaching the top fifty in the NZCF Rapid list.
View the Perpetual Handicap 2016 progess and graphs
Richard Sutton Trophy – 30 November
Defending Champion and top seed Quentin Johnson looked to have the tournament won after winning the key match-up with second seed Leighton Nicholls in round four to go a point clear on 4/4. But Riley Jellyman, afetr an early setback against John Armstrong won his other games to be up against Johnson in round five and the game ended in a draw after both sides missed some chances for more in an even struggle. Meanwhile Nicholls satyed in the hunt defeating Edward Sarfas in a tactical battle after the latter missed a fleeting chance to trap Nicholl's queen. Armstrong continued his good tournament by defeating Shoji Fukushima. In the final round Johnson blundered a pawn against Geoff Aimers, and though he was able to regain it it left him with weak queenside pawns. Aimers was on the verge of victory, but allowed Johnson to reach a drawn bishop and wrong rook pawn ending to salvage the draw. Johnson was joined in first place on 5/6 by Nicholls, after Jellyman went astray in the opening, losing first a pawn then an exchange. Sarfas beat Hamish Gold to finish third a point behind, while Jellyamn, Aimers and Taine Box were next on 3½. New member Martin Brook (11) scored a very creditable 2/6 in his first tournament registering a 1500 rating performance. Jellyman, Armstrong and Naser Tamimi should all earn FIDE ratings in the January list, while Sarfas scored a 4-game block towards his first FIDE rating.
View the Vega files including games
Club Rapid Championship 2nd leg – 19 October
The second leg was marred by the unexpected non-appearance of club champion and Treasurer John Sutherland on the opening night, followed by news of his death a couple of weeks later as result of a stroke. John was a well-liked member of the club and will be sadly missed.
The **new rules** applied this year meant that competition between grades was fierce to the end. Defending Champion and top seed Quentin Johnson again scored 4½/6 in the A Grade, benefitting from a final round default against Iain Lamont. Leighton Nicholls also repeated his score of 4 points from the first leg to take clear second, ahead of Lamont on 2½ and Riley Jellyman on 1, though this still gained him some rating points. In The B Grade Naser Tamimi dominated with 4½/6 ahead of Edward Sarfas on 3½, Hamish Gold 2½ and Sean Lau 1½. The C Grade was won by Shoji Fukushima on 4/6, continuing his fine run of rapid results this year. Brent Southgate was second on 3½ points folowed by Terry Duffield 3 and Taine Box on 1½. Ryan Lau emerged the victor of the tightly contested D grade on 3½/6, just ahead of John Armstrong and Ethan Lau tied for second on 3 points, while Hildon Nisa finished on 2½.
After base points are added to these scores along with the first leg scores, the Senior championship trophy went to Quentin Johnson on an Aggregate of 20½, 1 point ahead of Leighton Nicholls. The Intermediate championship trophy went to Naser Tamimi on 15 points, a point clear of Riley Jellyman and Edward Sarfas. The Junior Championship Trophy went to Brent Southgate on 10½, half a point ahead of Sean Lau. The calculation of the base scores this year perhaps slightly underweighted the value of a promotion to a higher grade, and a proposal to round these up to the nearest half point (instead of up or down) has been put to the committee for next year's championships.
View combined Crosstable and Rating performances
View Grade Crosstables
Transfer tournament – 19 October
While some catchup games for the Rapid Championship were being completed, two round-robin transfer tournaments took place at the other end of the playing room. Taking part along with the club regulars were two guests from out of town: Alan Aldridge from Wellington and David Weegenaar from Christchurch. The final scores in the first tournament were: 1 Naser & Ryan 4/4; 2 Alan & John 3; 3 Edward & Max 2; 4 Taine & Ethan 1; 5 Shoji & Hildon 0. The final scores in the second tournament were: 1-2 Alan & Max and Naser & Ethan 4/5; 3-4 David & John and Ryan & Taine 3; 5 Sean & Shoji 1; 6 Edward & Hildon 0.
Club Championship – 21 September, updated 5 October
After the second leg of the 2016 Club Championship, John Sutherland won the A grade even more convincingly on 4½/5 a point and a half a point Leighton Nicholls and Iain Lamont, to win the senior championship trophy for 2016. Quentin Johnson finished on 2½ and Riley Jellyman on 2 after the latter gave away a piece from a winning position in the final game, while Terry Duffield couldn't repeat his rating gains from the 1st leg and finished on 0.
With the promotion of Riley to the A grade, the B grade was dominated Naser Tamimi. Naser finished on 4½/5, a point clear of Geoff Aimers. This 2100+ performance won Naser the Intermediate championship trophy by half a point over Riley, whose 2000 performance in the A grade wasn't enough to hold his lead from the first leg. Newcomer Edward Sarfas scored a solid 2½ followed by Hamish Gold on 2, Brent Southgate on 1½ and Shoji Fukushima on 1 point after promotion from the C Grade. This was enough for Shoji to win the Junior championship trophy for 2016.
The C grade was again a six-round Swiss. Top seed Bob Clarkson started with a loss to Taine Box, but a string of five wins followed to finish at the top of the table. Sean Lau finished next on 4 points, losing only to Bob and taking a couple of half-point byes. Taine finished third equal with David Reid and Ryan Lau on 3½.
The **new rules** this year mean that each grade starts with a base score and/or a scaling factor, to allow performances to be roughly compared between grades, based on the average rating of the field in each grade. That allows players in different grades to compete for the same trophy on roughly even terms. The final Championship totals show the effect of these adjustments:
1 Sutherland 15 (Senior Champion); 2 Nicholls 13; 3 Lamont 12½ 4-6 TBC; 7 Aimers 9½; 8 Duffield 8; 9-10 Southgate & Sarfas 7½; 11-14 Gold, Fukushima (Junior Champion), Reid & Sean Lau 6½; 15-16 Armstrong & Ryan Lau 6; 17 Box 5½; 18-20 Clarkson, Nisa & Ethan Lau 4; 21 Lough 2½; 22 McKee 1; 23 Cowie 0.
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View A-Grade crosstable and rating performances
View B-Grade crosstable and rating performances
View C-Grade crosstable and rating performances
Ultimate Challenge – 21 September
Instead of the scheduled Transfer tournament, a different form of team chess was tried out – the Ultimate Challenge format copied from the after event at the Sinquefield Cup Super GM tournament. Two teams played 5m + 3s Bronstein blitz in rotation – 5 moves for each player before the next member of their team took over the game, with players paired to be roughly even strength. The team order was reversed after each game. The team of Quentin, Sean, Shoji, Hildon, Ethan & Jack won the five game match 3½ - 1½ against the team Elliot, Edward, Brent, Bob, Max & Ryan, though the games were very close and often hanged on a thread.
Spring Rapid Open – 3 September
The Spring Rapid Open saw 15 players compete, only Ross Black from Christchurch making the journey from outside Dunedin. Ross was the casualty of the major upset in the first round to Ryan Lau, while second seed Hamish Gold was held to a draw by Max Lough. In round two both these players continued in kind - Ryan defeating Wolfie Martin, and Max drawing with Ross. Ethan Lau beat his older brother Sean, and top seed Quentin Johnson only just managed to win on time against Naser Tamimi in a technically drawn position. The third round saw Quentin held to a draw by Riley Jellyman, these two being joined in the lead by Hamish, who ended Ryan's destructive run, but from a piece down. Ross conceded his third draw, this time to Hildon Nisa. The match on board one between Hamish and Riley was a fascinating struggle of unequal material: Hamish won Riley's queen for rook, knight and pawn. Riley then won an exchange to be up on material, but then Hamish turned his unopposed queen to account to win with a sacrificial kingside attack. Quentin kept pace with Hamish by beating Ryan, who by his own admission moved too fast and was soon lost. Staying in contention half a point behind were Edward Sarfas, who beat Wolfie and Naser, who beat Bob Clarkson. In the under 1500 grade Ryan, Sean, Ethan and Max shared the lead on 2 points going into the final round. The battle between the leaders in the final round was a typically messy King's Gambit ended in a victory for Quentin over Hamish, taking first on 4½/5. Riley defeated Wolfie to join Hamish among the prizewinners on 3½ and then awaited the result beween Naser and Edward, the final game to finish. In a hair-rasing game in which the position fluctuated between wins for either side, Naser eventually won on time in a wild scramble by one second! - taking second on 4 points. The contest to reach 3 points to win under 1500 grade was won by Sean, who defeated Ryan, and Max, who beat Bob, while Ethan was beaten by Ross.
The next rapid open is the Summer Rapid on Saturday 3 December.
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Otago/Southland Junior Championship – 20 August
A compact but very strong field of 15 players turned out at the Otago Chess Club to contest the 2016 championship. Only three players were not members of the Otago Chess club or Dunedin Junior Chess Academy. Only Kyle Manangkil (Lime Hills) came from outside Dunedin. Defending joint champions from last year Leighton Nicholls and Riley Jellyman started as favourites, along with OBHS board 1, Naser Tamimi. However, seven rounds with the Rapid time limit of 25 minutes for the game meant there was plenty of drama to come. Nicholls drew in the first round to Max Lough (OBHS) who stoutly defended a pawn endgame a pawn down, while other games went to seeding. Jellyman (OBHS) defeated his OBHS1 team mate Naser Tamimi in round two on time in a blitz finish in what looked like a key result. He was joined on 2/2 by Taine Box (OBHS), Sean Lau (OBHS) and Joe McKee (OBHS). In round 3 Jellyman beat Box and McKee beat Sean Lau to move to 3/3, while Tamimi came back from a piece down to beat Nicholls, seemingly ending the top seed's title chances. In round 4 the battle between the two leaders went decisively to Jellyman, establishing a point lead over McKee, Tamimi and Sean Lau. Jellyman retained his lead in round five, beating Sean Lau to move to 5/5. McKee beat Tamimi after the latter blundered a piece from a winning position to stay a point behind, while Nicholls and Lough lurked a further half point back. In round 6, Jellyman showed signs of having banked the point against Lough, who played very well to exploit his opponents errors and won to open up the tournament heading into the final round. Nichols beat McKee to join Lough on 4½/6 , just half a point behind Jellyman, while Tamimi and Sean Lau joined McKee on 4 points with wins over Ethan Lau (OBHS) and Loek van Broekhoven (Kaikorai) respectively. In a key game in the under 13 section, Romer Suggate (Tahuna) beat Manangkil to take apoint lead on 3/6 over Manangkil and Liam Gonen (Home). Fittingly it was the joint defending champions who faced off in the final round, and the half point difference meant they couldn't share the title again this year. Playing for the draw, sufficient to win the title, Jellyman traded into a rook ending a pawn up against Nicholls, but the latter's king and pawns were much better placed. Nicholls won back the pawn and the defensive task proved too much in the time allowed for Jellyman in the final game to finish. Thus Nicholls overtook Jellyamn to win the tournament outright, as the only other player in range, Lough, was beaten by Tamimi. Sean Lau beat Suggate and McKee beat Ryan Lau (OBHS) to join Jellyman and Tamimi in second place, while Liam Gonen overcame Ethan Lau to catch Suggate in the under 13 section.
First and winner of the JJ Marlow Trophy for the fifth time was Leighton Nicholls on 5½/7. Second equal in the under 20 were Naser Tamimi and Sean Lau on 5 (players eligible for more than one prize were allocated only the highest value prize). First equal U16 were Riley Jellyman and Joe McKee, also on 5 points. First equal U13 were Liam Gonen and Romero Suggate on 3 points. The winning team was OBHS1 (Riley Jellyman, Naser Tamimi & Seal Lau).
View crosstable, standings and team standings
Otago/Southland Primary-Intermediate Individual Championship – 6 August
A very healthy field of 32 players turned out at the Otago Chess Club to compete in this year's championship. Martin Brook (10 – all ages are as at 1 January 2016, John McGlashan), made no contest of the race for first - winning all seven games to finish 1½ points ahead of his closest rival. Second went to Jin Young Kim (12, John McGlashan) on 5½ points. Six players tied for third place on 5 points: Brendan Choi (12, Queenstown), Ryan Choi (8, Queenstown), Jung Hoon Kim (9, Maori Hill), Noah Oseki (11, John McGlashan), Beckham Wilson (12, Balclutha) and Jared Lau (10, Balmacewen). First and second in the under 11 under grade was shared by Jung Hoon Kim and Jared Lau. First an the under 9 grade was Ryan Choi ahead of Stijn van Broekhoven (8, Kaikoria) on 3 points. Jemmimah McCombe-Rae won the Best Girl prize on 4 points. The John McGlashan 1 team of Jin Young Kim, Noah Oseki and Caleb Oakley (11) won the team prize with a total of 14½ points.
View crosstable and team standings
Thematic tournament – 3 August
Eight players contested the round-robin with a blitz time control of Bronstein 5 mins plus 3 seconds per move, as eight players from the rapid championship had to finished postponed games instead. This year using Bob Clarkson’s pack of 52 cards with opening printed on them the openings were changed every round, so ranged from the solid English (1.c4) to the not-so-solid Latvian Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5!?). Newcomer Simon Li arrived just in time to take part in his first club event and proved a formidable blitz player, winning with 6/7 ahead of Naser Tamimi second on 5½, the same score which was good enough the previous year for Naser to win outright. Third was shared by Sean & Ryan Lau on 4 points. Despite finishing in last place, Shoji Fukushima had the distinction of being the only player to beat the winner and draw with the runner up. Final scores: 1 Simon Li 6/7; 2 Naser Tamimi 5½; 3-4 Sean Lau & Ryan Lau 4; 5 Max Lough 3; 6-7 Hildon Nisa & Taine Box 2; 8 Shoji Fukushima 1½.
Club Rapid Championship 1st leg – 3 August
New rules applied this year meant that competition between grades was represent more fairly in terms of relative performance and all were closely fought. Defending Champion and top seed Quentin Johnson scored 4½/6 in the A Grade to take a narrow lead over Leighton Nicholls on 4 points. In The B Grade Riley Jellyman again emerged the winner on 4/6 to earn promotion to the A Grade ahead of Naser Tamimi and new member Edward Sarfas tied for second on 3½. The C Grade was a tie for first between Sean Lau and Taine Box on 3½, with Sean earning promotion to the B Grade by winning a blitz playoff 2-0. The D-Grade was another tie for first between Bob Clarkson and Brent Southgate on 4 points. Hildon Nisa earned promotion from the E Grade with a convincing 4½ points. In the combined cross table below the inter-grade handicap of 6½ points has been added to the A grade, 4 to the B Grade, 2 to the C Grade, 1½ to the D Grade and ½ to the E-Grade (after a late entry increased the average rating) and show the overall standings after the first leg. The handicaps are derived from the difference in expected score between the average rating of each grade.
View combined Crosstable and Rating performances
View Grade Crosstables
Cleland Trophy – 6 July
The Cleland Trophy was decided somewhat anticlimactically in the final round, when leader John Sutherland only arrived at the club after the round had started. Rather than halt play and redo the draw, John didn't play. So Quentin Johnson retained the trophy finishing on 5/6, having lost to Sutherland but won his other games. Naser Tamimi was the only player in a position to match Johnson, afetr a very strong tournament. But having prepared to face Sutherland in the final round, he found he had to play Leighton Nicholls. A tactical oversight forced Naser into a sacrificial attack, for which he never quite had enough compensation. Thus Nicholls joined Sutherland in second place on 4½, followed by Tamimi fourth on 4 points. Sean Lau and Taine Box both recorded solid results in finishing on 3 along with Vee-Liem Saw, who had to miss the final round in his last club event until his return to Dunedin in December.
View Crosstable and Rating performances
Otago/Southland Primary and Intermediate Interschool Teams Championship 2016 – 2 July
19 teams from 12 schools played for the twelfth annual Otago Primary and Intermediate Interschool Teams' Championships at Dunedin North Intermediate School. Defending champions Balmacewen A were trounced 4-0 in their individual match with last year's runners-up Tahuna Normal in the third round. This proved decisive, as Tahuna just managed to defend their lead through the rest of the close competition, finishing first on 22/27. Balmacewen A were second on 20 points and John McGlashan B third on 18 points.
Leading individual scorers were Board 1: Martin Brook (John McGlashan B) 6½/7, Romero Suggate (Tahuna) 6/7, Zishen Fu (Balmacewen A) 5½/7; Board 2: Abdhul Alkharusi (Tahuna) 5½/7, Jared Lau (Balmacewen A) 5/7, Luke Geddes (DNI A) 5/7, Dart Watson (Tarras) 5/7; Board 3: Nick Wright (Tahuna) 6½/7, Noah Oseki (John McGlashan A) 6½/7, Aaron Nelson (Balmacewen A) 5/7; Board 4: Max Baldwin (John McGlashan B) 6/7, Lance McClimont (Tarras) 5/7, Leevi Hanson (Balmac A) 4½/7.
View Intermediate crosstable
View Intermediate individual scores (not accurate in some cases due to board shifting between players)
In the Primary section George St Normal proved convincing winners over defending champions Maori Hill – these were the only teams not to benefit from a 4-point bye in the nine-team competition. George St finished first on 24/27 by a clear margin. Maori Hill were second on 18 points and St Joseph's Cathedral School A finished third on 17½ points.
Leading individual scorers were Board 1: Samuel Kelly (George St) 6/7, John Mengel (Maori Hill) 5/7, Ava Williams (St Joseph's A) 4½/6; Board 2: Oliver Hobbs (George St) 7/7, Jung Hoon Kim (Maori Hill) 6/7, Sean Kerr (Kaikorai B) 4/6; Board 3: Jake Owen (George St) 6/7, Ben Casey (St Joseph's B) 4/6, Joseph Brenner (St Joseph's A) 3½/6, Daniel Brienesse (Waverley Park) 3½/6; Board 4: Nathaniel Miller-Coote (St Joseph's A) 5/6, Harrison Tonkin (George St) 5/7.
View Primary crosstable
View Primary individual scores (not accurate in some cases due to board shifting between players)
Thanks to Dunedin North Intermediate School for providing the venue once again.
Otago/Southland Secondary Interschool Teams Championship 2016 – 18 June
Eight teams from four schools played for the twelfth annual Otago Secondary Interschool Teams' Championship at Otago Boys' High School on Saturday 18 June. Kavanagh College returned to the competition after a break of several years, taking on multiple teams from hosts Otago Boys’ High School and regular competitors Logan Park High School and John McGlashan College.
The hosts' A team defended their title convincingly. The team won all their individual games bar one – Naser Tamimi was upset on board 1 by Taine Box of the OBHS B team. OBHS A finished first on 27/28, ahead of the OBHS B team, second on 23½ points and Logan Park A, third on 17½ points. These three teams qualify for the South Island finals in Ashburton on 31 August, while OBHS A go on to the national finals in Palmerston North on 24-25 September. Leading individual scorers were Board 1: Taine Box (OBHS B) 7/7, Naser Tamimi (OBHS A) 6/7; Daniel Wallace (LPHS A) 5/7; Board 2: Riley Jellyman (OBHS A) 7/7, Max Lough (OBHS B) 6/7; Board 3: Joe McKee (OBHS A) 7/7, Nic Elkins (OBHS C) 5/7; Board 4: Sean Lau (OBHS A) 7/7, Ethan Lau (OBHS B) 6/7, Grant McNaughton (LPHS A) 5/7. Thanks to Otago Boys’ High School for providing the venue once again.
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View individual scores

Matai Bowen (LPHS B) and Sam Meikle (Kavanagh)	Daniel Wallace (LPHS A) and Fraser Reynolds (JMC A)	Caed Faloon (OBHS C) and Naser Tamimi (OBHS A)	Daniel Thom (JMC B) and Taine Box (OBHS B)

Winter Rapid Open – 11 June
The Winter Rapid Open drew a very healthy field of 22 to play chess in front of the channel 39 camera. The local station was covering the event after being alerted by President Bob Clarkson as a promotional idea. As well as a strong local turnout, Ross Black came from Christchurch, Brian Williams from Palmerston North and Nigel Cooper all the way from Waiheke Island. Ross Black and Terry Duffield were the only casualties of upsets in the first round to Sean Lau and Taine Box respectively. In round two Wolfie Martin drew with Cooper, while Ethan Lau defeated Williams, both presaging tournament results that showed their ratings were too low. Meanwhile top seed Quentin Johnson survived a pawn sacrifice for strong attacking pressure from Naser Tamimi, when the latter went wrong in the complications. The third round saw Johnson just defeat strong resistance from Riley Jellyman, mating with a few seconds left on the clock. He was joined in the lead by Rene Sterk, playing in his second rapid open after a break of seven years, after defeating second seed Hamish Gold. The battle between the leaders in the fourth round ened in a vistiory for Johnson after Sterk went initiated a faulty combination and lost a piece. Martin moved into second place half a point behind with a defeat of Gold. Half a point behind him, Sterk, Jellyman, Tamimi and Black were all in contention going into the final round. Johnson essayed a speculative piece sac against Martin, which bore fruit when the latter failed to find the best defence, taking first with 5/5. Black and Sterk drew to join Martin in shared third on 3½, behind Jellyman, who defeated OBHS teammate Tamimi to take second place on 4 points. the undre 1600 grade was won by Martin, ahead of a four-way tie for second on 3 points between Tamimi, Joe Mckee, Vee-Liem Saw and Duffield. The U1200 grade was won by Ethan Laau, also on 3, ahead of Sean Lau, Box, and Carlssen van Rooyen tied for second on 2 points.
The next rapid open is the Spring Rapid on Saturday 3 September.
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Swiss Rapid – 25 May
The Swiss Rapid was convincingly won by second seed Iain Lamont. He drew with top seed Quentin Johnson in round four and defeated all is other opponents to take clear first on 5½/6. Naser Tamimi had a greta tournament to finish clear second on 5 points, losing only to Lamont in round 2. A point further back was Leighton Nicholls, who missed two rounds due to illness. Of the group on 3½, Sean Lau and Taine Box plundered the most rating points.
View Crosstable and Rating performances
Shuffle tournament – 6 May
13 players took part in the shuffle chess tournament, which was a six round Swiss. Random starting positions and a 5 minutes 3 seconds Bronstein time limit threw up some very disorienting middlegames, and removed the experience advantage of some players, but not the Lau brothers. Top seed Quentin Johnson managed to survive three lost positions on his way to 6/6 and first place, ahead of Ryan Lau second on 4½, with Sean and Ethan Lau sharing third on 4 points.
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Club Championship – 27 April
After the first leg of the 2016 Club Championship, John Sutherland leads the A grade on 4/5, half a point ahead of Leighton Nicholls, while former champion Iain Lamont is a further half point behind. Quentin Johnson's 2 points are unlikely to be enough to defend his 2015 title. Terry Duffield gained rating points on 1½, and Geoff Aimers rounded out the field on 1.
The B grade was dominated by OBHS team mates Riley Jellyman and Naser Tamimi. Riley finished on 4/5 just half a point ahead of Naser. Top seed Brent Southgate dropped points to these two but finished next on 3 points, followed by Vee-Liem Saw on 2 after a late promotion from the C Grade. Hamish Gold on 1½ and David Reid on 1 point found the going tough this year.
The C grade was a six-round Swiss. John Armstrong started with a string of wins, but two late losses left him on 4/6 half a point behind returning member Shoji Fukushima on 4½. Late surges by Ryan and Sean Lau put them next on 3½, overtaking Taine Box whose early momentum ran out, finishing on 3.
The **new rules** this year mean that each grade start with a base score and/or a scaling factor, to allow performances to be roughly compared between grades, based on the average rating of the field in each grade. That allows players in different grades to compete for the same trophy on fairer terms than in the past. The Championship totals in the link below show the effect of these adjustments.
View all crosstables
View A-Grade crosstable and rating performances
View B-Grade crosstable and rating performances
View C-Grade crosstable and rating performances
Blitz tournament – 16 March
The five minutes time limit gave everyone a chance in any game, with no player scoring less than two wins or avoiding less than two losses. The competition for first was close, with a four-way tie for first.
Final scores: 1-4 Quentin Johnson, Iain Lamont, Leighton Nicholls & Naser Tamimi 8/10; 5 Riley Jellyman 6; 6-7 Taine Box & Ryan Lau 4; 8 Vee-Liem Saw 3; 9-11 Ethan Lau, Shoji Fukushima & John Armstrong 2.
Alan Chang Memorial – 9 March
The Alan Chang 10 minute hourglass tournament again produced very tough competition for both the tournament victory and the Alan Chang Trophy for the biggest upset. New member Taine Box staked a claim of the trophy with a huge upset win over Terry Duffield in the first round. Another new member Ethan Lau came very close in round three with an upset win over David Reid. But Box emphasised his grip with a win of returning member Shoji Fukshima in round 4 to in effect be first and second in terms of greatest upset. Upsets throughout the event resulted in a fascinating battle for victory in the tournament. Top seed Quentin Johnson drew with Geoff Aimers and then lost to second seed John Sutherland. Sutherland in turn drew with Riley Jellyman and lost to third seed Iain Lamont. Thus Lamont was the only undefeated player and won the tournament half a point ahead of Sutherland, Aimers, Johnson, Jellyman, and Naser Tamimi tied for second on 3½ points. Taine Box and Ethan Lau pocketed many rating points for their efforts.
View Crosstable and Rating performances
Autumn Rapid Open – 5 March
The 2016 Seasonal Rapids to determine the winner of the Westpac 30-30 Trophy began with the Autumn Rapid, with a healthy 18 players turned out on Saturday afternoon. Former club member David Weegenaar, visiting from Christchurch, was top seed although he was the first to admit that his high rapid rating was based on only a handful of games. This was borne out in the first round, when Weegenaar miscalculated when trying to win against Naser Tamimi in a very tricky and probably level position and lost. Another major upset was caused by Riley Jellyman losing his queen to Taine Box. Leighton Nicholls and Quentin Johnson were the only players to reach 3/3 and contested the lead in round 4. An unsound exchange sacrifice paid off for Johnson who took the sole lead on 4/4 followed by Nicholls, Tamimi, Rick Loos of Oamaru, Sean Lau & Joe McKee all on 3 points. The final round saw Johnson escape with a draw after earlier overlooking a nice tactic by Tamimi, to secure 1st place. Nicholls beat McKee and Loos beat Sean Lau to share second place. The under 1600 grade was won by Tamimi on 3½, ahead of McKee 2nd on 3 points. The under 1200 grade went to Sean Lau on 3 ahead of a three way tie for second on 2 points between Ryan Lau, Box and Martin Brook making a strong debut in an open tournament.
The next rapid open is the Winter Rapid on Saturday 11 June.
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2016 Otago chess club AGM – 10 February
Bob Clarkson stayed on a President, as did all the other main officers. Subscriptions also remained the same. The 2016 committee comprises:
President: Bob Clarkson; Vice President: Brent Southgate; Secretary: Leighton Nicholls; Treasurer: John Sutherland; Director of Junior Play: Quentin Johnson; Past-President: Geoff Aimers; Committee members: Terry Duffield, Naser Tamimi & Riley Jellyman; Auditor: Bob Glass; Patron: Bob Glass.
Opening Night – 27 January
The traditional Presidents vs Vice Presidents match was between teams of five players at a time limit of Bronstein 50 mins plus 2s per move. The teams were well chosen and evenly matched, so the overall result came down to then final game, fittingly between VP Brent Soughgate and President Bob Clarkson. Clarkson won to take the match for the Presidents team 3-2.
President vs Vice President
Bob Clarkson 1-0 Brent Southgtate
Quentin Johnson 1-0 Leighton Nicholls
Geoff Aimers ½-½ Naser Tamimi
Terry Duffield 0-1 Riley Jellyman
John Armstrong ½-½ David Reid